Boston Partners Sells 1,657,250 Shares of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP)

Boston Partners decreased its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,310,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,657,250 shares during the quarter. CenterPoint Energy comprises approximately 0.8% of Boston Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Boston Partners’ holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $676,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 102,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,262,000 after acquiring an additional 15,069 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 4,412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 51,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,619,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 419,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,324,000 after acquiring an additional 32,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE CNP opened at $35.59 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.41 and a 52 week high of $35.88. The company has a market capitalization of $23.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.91.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 11.79%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNP shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.50 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised CenterPoint Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

CenterPoint Energy Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.